Reviews

Elemental Mating by Milly Taiden

kate_and_books's review against another edition

On hold @ 29 % - I couldn't wait to read this book it sounded really good alas I don't know what I got. The heroine was awful IMO. The Hero was cool and the plot of the story didn't keep me hooked.

inmyhumbleopinion's review against another edition

4.0

Elemental Mating is the first in a new series by Milly Taiden. I love that this book takes place in Uganda. I absolutely adore the fact that our heroine, Melinda, is a gifted scientist. I liked the mix of science and paranormal. I enjoyed the story. I just wish I could have felt the attraction between jaguar-shifter Agent Parish Hamel and Melinda more. It felt a little forced to me which is not usually an issue in this authors work. That being said; bring on the next installment.

tinasbooknook's review against another edition

3.0

Cute and fun. Enjoyed the characters, worldbuilding, and storyline, but the end felt a little rushed.

melodicfate's review against another edition

3.0

I loved that the heroine, Melinda, was a scientist. She loved animals, was a bit clumsy...and also made some really dumb choices. I liked Hamel, the hero. He was strong, protective, and it was obvious that he loved Melinda. There was action as Hamel did his best to protect Melinda and the virus she was researching, suspense as they tried to figure out who was the thief(whose identity I was half-right about), and the steamy relationship between Hamel and Melinda.

I loved that the story was set in Uganda. Now, I know absolutely nothing about Uganda, but I've never read a book set there before. I found it very unique. The last quarter or so turned a bit different than I was expecting, but in a good way. Well, except for the part where I wanted to shake Melinda for being stupid. I did love Wilson, though.

In the end, this was enjoyable enough. It was steamy and quick. If that misunderstanding hadn't happened so late in the book, I'd probably have liked it more. But then, I do despise the big misunderstanding. I say check this out if you like jaguar shifters who will do anything for their mates, a scientist heroine, a unique setting, and some action scenes.

tanyad74's review against another edition

3.0

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Elemental Mating is the first book in Milly Taiden's A.L.F.A. series. This is also my first experience with this author. A.L.F.A. is a group of secret agents that work for the government. The government knows they are shifters while the world is kept in the dark that they exist. The government uses their special skills on dangerous missions in exchange for leaving the shifters from being outed.

In Elemental Mating, we travel to Uganda where Melinda Caster has discovered a virus that gives infants ESP gifts. Unfortunately they are still working on it when they find that the virus has a high death rate after the special gift is used excessively. Melinda really doesn't think her virus is worth national security so is surprised when someone is sent to watch over her project. She is not pleased to have to work with someone from this organization.

Parish Hamel is no scientist, and pretending to be one is actually harder than he thought it would be. His attempts at following Melinda's conversations about her project were funny. However, his lack of scientific terminology strikes Melinda as odd. Hamel's job is to protect Melinda's project as there is information about it that could lead dangerous people to try and get a hold of it.

It was interesting that Hamel himself just gets introduced to a new paranormal species he thought didn't exist. Now he has to be as open-minded as he needs his mate to be when he explains he is actually the panther she has fallen in love with.

Eternal Mating was a quick read. The world was fairly simple to get to know. There wasn't an overload of world-building information so we were able to get right to the story. I found it interesting that Milly Taiden's heroine's are not your usual Barbie doll imitations, but portray real women.

The time the couple spent in the other dimension was interesting and we seem to setup a connection there that could benefit A.L.F.A. in the future.

I enjoyed the romance between our main couple, and thought it was cute how Hamel used his panther to get close to Melinda. The virus storyline was definitely interesting and the impact it could make in the wrong hands is shocking. I did not suffer from book one syndrome with this book and I'm excited to start book two. Elemental Mating is a great start to a new series.This review was originally posted on Rantings of a Reading Addict

ajenkins979's review against another edition

4.0

That was different. What a ride!
I enjoyed but didn't love. This is one of those books that I was fully engrossed while reading, but when I put it down- I didn't think on it.
Great story though
This book had: demons, witch doctors, a sexy shifter, a scientist, and crazy dreams.
Full of suspense for sure. You never knew what the hell what about to happen!!!

*I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

leeannreadsincognito's review against another edition

2.0

So this started off pretty good, I thought. Scientist lady, secret agent-type guy, mystery, murder, sorta paranormal. Then WHAM!! it changed into an entire diffrent book. WTF? Two completely different story lines smoothed together and not in a good way. Call me disappointed.

arickman's review against another edition

3.0

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a good job. This was quick low angst listen. This story had action, suspense and a hotness factor.

cranberrytarts's review against another edition

1.0

Elemental Mating by Milly Taiden is something I found while browsing NetGalley. It sounded really good, but it turned a little woo-woo for me around about chapter 15. Plus, the hero and heroine both made so many ridiculous choices based on the circumstances they were in. I can generally set aside all disbelief when reading a PNR, but I just couldn’t this time.

DNF

willowb's review against another edition

4.0

Lots of fun!

This was a good story. I enjoyed the twists and turns with Melinda and Hamel. Can't wait to see what other fun can be found with the A.L.F.A. characters in the next book!